


The Fifth Quarter

by mochiiwriting



Category: Haikyuu!!, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Aged up characters, Angst, Broken Hearts, CCG - Freeform, Crying, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Ghouls, Healing, Heavy Angst, Injury, King - Freeform, M/M, Slow Burn, Tokyo Ghoul AU, broken bokuto, emotion heavy fight, explicit content, heavy content, heavy descriptions, intense fights, little fox - Freeform, love making, major death, soulmate!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-03-19 06:43:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13699014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochiiwriting/pseuds/mochiiwriting
Summary: Gutted, delirious, and left for dead by CCG officers, twenty-year-old ghoul Hinata Shouyou is found in an alleyway by Sugawara Koushi and Nishinoya Yuu and taken into ‘The Fifth Quarter’, a vigilante group of ghouls intent on helping their kind in times of crisis and getting revenge on the CCG for the lives they needlessly took.Kageyama Tobio lived alone, hunted alone, and worked alone, until he realised the CCG was beginning to uncover his human identity. Panicked and unsure of what else to do, he turns to the Fifth Quarter for protection, only to discover a boy who has a scent that makes him rethink every decision he’s ever made.





	1. Little Fox

  Hinata's breathing was ragged. Each inhale had his lungs clenching, tensing as air acted like sand and glass being shoved down his throat. His pupils dilated, eyes flashing back and forth between thin rings of red in pools of black to a regular chocolate brown colour. He was contorted in an almost inhuman shape; one arm was clearly broken and his shoulder easily dislocated. 

  He crawled. Well, more accurately, he dragged his own body with his only functioning arm. 

  Hinata's nostrils flared, sight blurry as he tried to look up. He silently praised whatever god allowed the alley he lay in to be empty, relieved that no one would stumble across a sixteen year old ghoul, hungry, injured, and left for dead. He pulled himself to the side of the alley, gasping for breath as he pressed his head against the wall, whimpering from the pain shooting throughout his body. He was unsure of its origin, but at this stage, it didn't seem to matter. 

  He found some sort of energy to sit himself up against the wall, blood beginning to leak out from the side of his mouth. He tasted it on his teeth, musing about the fact he had been brimming with bloodlust and hunger thirty minutes prior. It made him grin, deranged and creepy. He would survive this. 

  He could survive a stab through the stomach for sure. 

  Hinata froze up, breathing becoming choked. His sensitive ears had picked up footsteps, faint and at the opposite end of the alleyway. They were light and quick, similar to his own. It was a ghoul, he could tell by the scent. Sharp and strong, but this scent was _nicer_. It had a softened edge; hard to describe yet weirdly alluring. Hinata blinked, turning his head and wincing. 

  He looked up to see the figure had stopped in front of him. It wasn't stopping to talk, nor to help, nor even to end Hinata's suffering, for the benefit of himself or the tortured boy. No, this ghoul was simply curious, body ready in a position to start running again when he needed to. He was cautious, body language and scent saying so. 

  Hinata squinted up at the figure, making out a tall boy. His hair was dark, fanning in front of an intense gaze. His mouth was pulled into a thin line, focused on the smaller boy. Hinata managed a smile, making the taller one flinch and step back a little, growl bearing in his chest, confusing the redhead. 

  His ears picked up more footsteps, from the same direction, and obviously so did the other boy's. His head snapped to attention, quickly placing the mask he had in hand on his face. It covered to just below his nose, golden and resembling a crown. Hinata's breathing hitched; he recognised that mask. But, in his shock-induced daze, he didn't really care to place it. 

   Three long, tentacle-like kagune sprouted from the boy's lower back, as he went to sprint away. He was gone in the blink of an eye, launching up onto the roof of one of the surrounding buildings and disappearing from trace. Hinata frowned. He didn't know why, but the boy had soothed him a little. It could have been the sense of protection he seemed to emit from his scent. But, Hinata guessed the boy didn't realise he was doing this. 

  The footsteps approached closer, and Hinata quickly identified two more ghouls seemingly jogging towards him. He lifted his head up, wrapping his hand around his wound as the two figures came to view. 

  They were both Male, and around the same age as him, if not a bit older. They both wore similar dark clothes and jackets, also. The one on the left was taller, silver locks falling effortlessly in a perfect shape. His eyes were feminine, eyelashes long, with a distinct mole below his left one. He wore what seemed to be bandages wrapped around his face and neck, covering his mouth and ending on the bridge of his nose. The bandages were slightly blood stained, signalling these two were recently hunting. 

  The other was shorter, grinning, with his hands shoved in his pockets. His mask covered the top half of his face; yellow with lightning bolts protruding from the sides. His hair was slicked back, a lock in the front bleached. Hinata wanted to laugh. _God, He was so, so dead._

  The taller one sighed. "We've got another one," he muttered, and began to reach out to Hinata. He was too tired to react, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep, and let the silver-haired boy move his arm away from his injury. Lightning-bolt hissed, staring at the injury and wincing at the second-hand pain. 

  "This is going to hurt a bit," the taller whispered to Hinata, which made him want to laugh. _What could be worse than this?_ He placed two hands on Hinata's shoulder, suddenly shoving the dislocated joint back into its socket and making a yelp echo through the alley. The yelp faded into a feeble cry. Hinata lay confused as to why these two were helping him. The silver haired boy looked up into his eyes apologetically, eyes soft despite their menacing kakugan. "I'm so sorry! At least it's one less thing to worry about...! Noya, ring Dai, we're gonna have to bring him in. Get Bo and Ushi to go hunting quickly so we've enough supply also." 

  "Ring your own boyfriend!" Noya protested, now distracted with looking around the small alleyway. A growl came from the taller boy's throat, threatening, as he laughed. "Damn, Suga. I'm on it." 

  The taller boy -obviously Suga- then slowly slung Hinata over his shoulder, careful about the wound quickly dropping blood in his stomach. He coughed as Suga quickly changed him into a bridal carry, wrapping his arms around the boy's neck. He was in a state of slight disbelief, not knowing who these boys were or why they were taking in. Who was Dai? Bo? Ushi? He was at a loss, and his little brain was short circuiting just a little bit. 

  "He's gonna pass out any minute. We gotta get him back," Noya muttered once he hung up the phone, shoving it into his back pocket and letting loose large, ukaku kagune. It was an enthralling colour; lavender at the ends blending like watercolour into burgundy, almost shining with a fleshy bounciness. 

  "No shit, dumbass!" Suga spat, shaking his head. Stress seemed to have been getting to his head, and by the way Noya was reacting he obviously wasn't like this often. "C'mon, there's nothing left to be done here." 

  "Wait... I think this is his," Noya said, picking up Hinata's mask, discarded on the ground near where he fell injured in the first place. A mask that covered his full face, shaped like a face of a fox. That was his hook, after all. He was the fox. 

  Hinata closed his eyes, as he felt Suga jump with Noya to take off into the city again.

  ~ 

  _"What...?_

_Surely this kid isn't..._

_Look at..._

_What's hi..._

_no way...!_

  Hinata coughed. He spluttered, eyes shooting open and shooting over the side of the bed to violently vomit blood into the basin left conveniently beside him on the floor. He clutched light blankets with one hand, eyes now scrunched shut in disgust. 

  _Wait._

  Hinata looked up again. He didn't know where he was, and the place smelled distinctly of ghoul. He was immediately put on edge, attempting to make a move to get up but stopped by the ache in his lower back. It was tolerable, but he felt he could use another days rest before he could leave again. 

  Eyes darting around, he noticed the small room was empty. He heard noises from the rest of the building; the sound of feet, of mild chatter, and some voices shouting playfully. Hinata felt intimidated; he could sense ghouls of high ranking nearby. His head shot towards the door as he heard footsteps approach and two low voices mumbling. 

  The first head popped around the corner, and Hinata felt instantly at ease. Suga appeared, smiling kindly with a small package in his hand. Hinata began to water at the mouth when he smelled iron and meat, looking hopefully up at the boy. Suga chuckled, and looked back to see another boy turn around the corner. 

  He was just a little taller, olive-skinned with a welcoming smile. His eyes were dark brown, his hair short and a similar dark colour. "So you're the new recruit, huh? Daichi Sawamura, you can call me Dai. CCG calls me Spinebreaker." He held out his hand, which Hinata shook lightly, arm a little weak. 

  "Shouyou... Hinata," he muttered in reply, and Suga handed him the package. He instantly opened it, beginning to chew on the muscle in front of him. 

  "And I'm Koushi Sugawara, I brought you in last night. CCG calls me bloody mummy,” Suga introduced himself.

“Suits you,” Daichi interrupted, and if looks could kill he would be bleeding out on the floor with the one Suga threw his way. Shaking his head and muttering something about _after all the years he didn’t really know respect_ , Suga turned his focus back on Hinata. 

“We already know who you are, by the way. The CCG is under the impression your dead, and demoted you to an A rank," Suga said, making Hinata stop his onslaught on the meat. Demoted him? He was only just about to get promoted to S rank. "The little fox, right? You work in the thirteenth Ward?" 

  "Yeah, but I don't know why I would be... demoted... I swear the officers that took me out were associate special class, and I didn't exactly go down easy," Hinata said, chewing through another mouthful of food. Daichi looked confused. 

  "It's said only one officer was needed in the paper, here, look..." Daichi responded, quickly dashing to the hall and coming back with that days newspaper. In the CCG section was a picture of him, mask and all, in an alleyway. He wasn't even sure how they got this picture of him. 

  " _'Little Fox' ghoul demoted to A rank from A~ rank after slaughter last night by first class officer Daisuke Kijima in the ninth ward,_ " Suga read aloud, shaking his head. "God, what the fuck is the CCG on... I've never even _heard_ of that investigator before, so he's hardly first class." 

  "No need to get riled up, Kou. We need to discuss the matter at hand here," Daichi concluded, turning to face Hinata. He had finished eating, sucking the blood off his own fingers. "You're probably confused, and I totally get it. You're in the tenth ward, in a place called the fifth quarter. We're an organisation that protects injured ghouls and fights against the CCG. We bring in injured ghouls like yourself, bring them back to full health, and give them three options. Cut ties with us immediately and work on your own accord, leave but still have connections in the case of an emergency, or join the organisation as a whole, living with us and working with us. Most pick the second option, but twenty seven of us chose the third. If you choose to stay on, you'll learn who those people are fairly quickly."

“They’re all the kindest people ever, bar Tsukishima. He just has... issues,” Suga added, moving to sit at the foot of Hinata’s bed. Daichi threw him a little glare, but Suga just quickly darted his tongue out and grinned mischievously. Hinata watched curiously upon the exchange, remembering Noya mentioning something about Suga and Dai being boyfriends. He shook his head. “The ones home right now are us, Bo, Akaashi, Kuroo and Yachi. Everyone is either at work or just kind of hanging around and making ends meet. For the time being that your injured, we recommend you stay. You can get to know them if you wish, and then you may decide to stay on.” 

Hinata’s eyes were wide, smile tugging at his lips. He felt a prick at his eyes, and as much as he wanted to force himself not to spill over with joyous tears at such a kind offer, he couldn’t seem to resist. His brown orbs brimmed with tears and he sniffed, Daichi smiling softly as he laughed. 

“I’d... I’d like to know everyone here. First,” Hinata said, nodding his head and moving to get up, Suga and Daichi soaring a quick glance at each other, nodding towards Hinata, smiling openly. 

~

“ _Akaashiiiii_ , you’re no fair! I’m able to handle it!” A voice complained, coming from a tall mass of muscle standing in the middle of a rather large kitchen. Hinata was curious as to how this large building was in Tokyo, of all places. He was standing in the doorframe, watching the man stamp his foot on the ground like a child and pout towards a shorter, attractive-looking man. The first was light haired, probably dyed with black roots. It was gelled up and looked rock hard. His eyes were golden, intimidating. He looked similar to a horned owl.

The second was shorter and a lot thinner in terms of muscle, deeming quite lanky. Sure, he was shorter, but he was still around five ten. His eyes bore long eyelashes and dark circles, hair short and curly and sleek, falling around his forehead in entirely random places. His features were fairly feminine really; smooth lips, dark-lined eyes, high cheekbones and a thin neck. He must have been Akaashi, the boy the first one was complaining to. 

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi mumbled, turning to face the first boy, Bokuto. His face was blank and expressionless, letting away nothing and leaving all to the imagination. So different from Bokuto, who used dramatic body language and loud words. “It’s not happening.” 

“Ohohoho, What’s going on here?Lover’s spat?” Another boy that Hinata hadn’t even noticed interrupted, sitting at the kitchen table with a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. His eyes were downturned and thin, hair looking matted and messy, sticking up in random places and looking as if it hadn’t been brushed in days. He was almost as muscular as Bokuto, but just didn’t have the same large presence. You could tell Bokuto was strong upon first meeting, this boy left more undecided and questioning. 

“Akaashi won’t let me go into the first ward, I need to do a job!” Bokuto held out his hands and pulled a face of confusion. The three boys still hadn’t noticed Hinata, Suga and Daichi standing there, watching them. Hinata glanced at Suga, seeing the boy catch his eye and wink at him, small grin tugging at his mouth. 

“What sort of business have you got in the first ward? That place is _crawling_ with doves,” Kuroo frowned, moving to take another sip of coffee. 

“Exactly my point,” Akaashi said immediately after, making Bokuto’s lip curl. 

“Kuroo, you’ve gotta be on my side here. I’m trying to collect a quinque to get rid of it,” Bokuto became serious all of a sudden, making Kuroo place his cup down and Akaashi’s lips pull tight together, looking down at the floor. “I think they took it from Goshiko. After, well, _that_ time. I can’t bare the thought of having to fight against a dove when they’re using a friend’s kagune against me. Surely, you can’t let that-?” 

“It’s too dangerous, Bo,” Suga interjected, making the three heads swing around to look at them, and all eyes immediately fell on Hinata. After all, he was hard to miss. His full head of ginger hair stuck out like a sore thumb in the light coloured room filled with white marble and beige wood. 

“What’s this?” Kuroo said, kicking back in his chair. He held a slightly smug grin, eyes half-lidded and staring directly at Hinata. He felt intimidated by the large presence all the men emitted. 

“What’s this? What’s this?” Bokuto added, sitting down on the kitchen table and earning a slightly irritated glare from Daichi once the table let out a worryingly loud creak. “A new recruit, huh? The names Koutarou Bokuto, you can call me Bo. Nice to meet ya!” Bokuto stuck out his large hand, and Hinata rushes over to shake it, eyes shining with wonder. He knew exactly who he was, and suddenly felt overcome with excitement. 

“You’re the horned owl, aren’t cha? Like the one that took out two Special class investigators single handed? SS rated and _everything_!!!” Hinata babbled, eyes sparkling. Bokuto laughed confidently, nodding fast and relishing in the flattery. 

“That’s me, alright!” Bokuto bellowed, pointing his thumbs into his chest and staring down at Hinata. “The horned owl, hidden in the shadows-“

“Are you not the least bit worried that your identity could be at risk if he recognised you so quickly?” Akaashi sighed in interruption, shaking his head at Bokuto, who was now frozen in embarrassment. Akaashi’s piercing gaze turned toward Hinata, and he wondered if the man was glaring at him or if his eyes were just _naturally like that_. “What’s your name?” 

“Shouyou Hinata. The little fox,” he introduced himself, smiling widely at Akaashi, who’s eyes widened slightly. However, he quickly returned to his former expression. 

“Aren’t you meant to be dead?” Kuroo questioned, one eyebrow rising. A beat of silence. “Tetsurou Kuroo, by the way. Black Lion. And that’s Akaashi Keiji, snowy owl.”

“I... I was saved. They just thought they killed me. They lied in the news, also. It took two associate special class doves to get me down,” Hinata said angrily, as if protesting to the men. Bokuto chuckled, grabbing him in a headlock and ruffling his hair, making him yelp from the pain of his injuries. Bokuto didn’t let up. 

“So you _have_ got some fight in that little body of yours, huh?” He boomed, big voice bouncing throughout the house and more than likely into the street. “God, Akaashi, we _gotta_ bring him hunting tomorrow!” 

“Hey, there’s no way he’s going out in his state!” Daichi growled, pulling Hinata back to make Bokuto release him. Suga was also now standing next to Akaashi, in a similar, analysing position, with their arms folded across their chest. “He’s recovering from a broken wrist, a dislocated shoulder _and_ a gut though the abdomen. Poor guy is lucky to be alive. Besides, he hasn’t even made a decision to take on yet.” 

“Sign me up!” Hinata yelled, making everyone except Kuroo jump, who was sipping on tea and continuing to watch with an amused smirk. 

“Hinata, are... are you sure? You’ve barely been here twelve hours, should you not-?” Suga began, being quickly interrupted by Hinata’s unwavering voice. 

“Let. Me. In!” He demanded. A beat of silence, and Suga sighed, shaking his head a little. 

“Don’t think there’s gonna be much change in that head of his. He looks pretty stubborn to me,” Kuroo mused, earning a glare off Daichi telling him to _shut the fuck up_. 

“If you’re that insistent... I’ll get Kenma to show you around the area. Get you into a job or something,” Suga muttered, moving to leave. 

“Sugawara-san,” Akaashi muttered, making the boy turn around. “Don’t forget about what happened.” 

Hinata looked confused, lost at what they were talking about. What had happened? 

“Of course. How could I forget, Akaashi-san,” Suga pulled his lips into a thin line, as if the words had hurt him to say. He looked over to Hinata, nodding his head to follow. “Alright, you. Time to meet the hermit.” 

The two of them made their way out the door, before hearing a small knock on the door. Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Suga rushed over, Hinata following quick behind. He opened the front door, and Hinata’s jaw almost dropped to his feet. 

“Is this... is this the fifth quarter?” An awkward voice said, coming from a boy who smelt almost heavenly to Hinata, dark hair shadowing gorgeous blue eyes. It was the exact same boy as last night, the king of the seventh ward.

And boy, was he eye candy. 


	2. Threats and Worthless Pride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the amazing response to the last chapter! Your comments keep me going so much and feedback really does help. Thank you!

Hinata found himself leaning against the wall of the kitchen a couple of minutes later. The air was tense and heavy as he, Suga, Daichi, Kuroo, Akaashi and Bokuto stood around this mystery boy, tied by his wrists and ankles to a chair in the middle of the room. It was simply a safety precaution, fear of the ghoul before them lashing out prominent among them. He was powerful; Hinata could tell simply by his intimidating stature and confident hold on himself.

"I'll ask you one more time, _King_ ," Bokuto growled out, hovering above the dark haired boy. He had taken on a threatening front, making himself look aggressive to the boy. The king, however, looked unfazed, almost bored. That's all they knew about him; his Dove nickname. "What's your real name?"

"If you don't tell us your name, we will force you to leave," Daichi said bluntly, jaw clenched tight. Something was off about this boy; the way he was acting so unintimidated and powerful put everyone else on edge.

Except for Bokuto, of course.

" _And god knows, we'll drag you out of here without your legs attached to your hips if needs be_ ," Bokuto snarled, kakugan flashing in his eyes and making Hinata almost jump out of his skin from the pure, unfiltered bloodlust behind his words. At the obvious threat, the boy released a single tentacle of kagune, the appendage racing towards Bokuto's throat and stopping right beforehand.

" _Make threats like that so lightly and I won't stop the next time,_ " Kageyama dared Bokuto. The light haired boy didn't even flinch, instead placing a hand on the kagune and pushing it away with a small smirk.

"Now, now; no kagune at the table," Bokuto smirked, making the boy before him snarl like a rabid dog.

"Tobin Kageyama," he growled out suddenly, hands clenched into fists. His kagune retreated into his back quickly after. "I'm not here to speak with you, _horned owl._ I wish to speak to Oikawa-san."

"He won't be back for hours, what business do you have with Tooru?" Suga asked, arms crossed. He was surprisingly calm as if accustomed to the situation at hand. He sounded taunting, acting like Kageyama _didn't_ just try to decapitate Bokuto.

"He has something of mine I _want back._ " Kageyama muttered, seething as his hands clenched the arm of the chair he sat in. "That man owes me more than you could imagine."

"And how did we know you're not just here to kill him? You realise this is our ground, right?" Suga retorted, a grin tugging at his mouth. Hinata cursed under his breath, wondering what the fuck Suga was doing. Kageyama looked offended, opening his mouth to reply before being interrupted.

"Why the hell is is so loud up here?" A quiet voice asked from the left of Hinata, sounding tired. Hinata's head snapped around, and a boy a little taller than him was standing there in an oversized jumper and tracksuit bottoms, barefoot. His hair was short, with a botched bleaching job making his dark roots extremely noticeable. His eyes were thin and catlike, piercing and menacing in a similar way to Akaashi's.

"Ahh, Kenma!" Kuroo called, turning towards the boy and grabbing him by the arm, dragging him over to Kageyama. Kenma looked overly reluctant, seemingly disgusted at Kuroo pulling at him in such a way. He was placed before Kageyama, and the two boys locked eyes with each other, staring. Kuroo grinned. "Recognise him?"

"Tobio Kageyama, twenty years old. SS rated ghoul, responsible for multiple attempts of cochlea raids and successful escapee from cochlea also. Responsible for the building collapse in the third ward, killing six first-class investigators and three associate special class, therefore promoting him to SS. Known to most as the king of the seventh ward, for his large presence and amount of territory," Kenma listed, striking everyone in the room dumbfounded and making Kuroo grin proudly, patting Kenma on the head and moving closer to him. Kenma stared up at Kuroo, locking eyes with him. "Be careful with this one. He's incredibly unstable and has an extremely high RC count. There is speculation that he is developing a kakuja and has multiple accounts of cannibalism held against him."

"What the fuck-?!" Kageyama muttered, eyes blown wide in threat and surprise, focus darting back and forth between Kuroo and Kenma.

"Knew I could rely on you, kitty!" Kuroo smiled, giving Kenma a noogie and making the smaller boy look like he really wanted to jump off the face of the earth. "You're not an informant for nothin'!"

"Listen to me, please!" Kageyama suddenly shouted, pulling at his restraints and making the room fall into a tense silence. He was no longer trying to size up everyone; this face was one of a desperate man. "Oikawa wasn't the only reason I came here. The doves are onto me; my boss fired me because of employees thinking that I was a ghoul. I _need protection_. If I'm out back into cochlea, I won't survive, _please_ -!"

"Reduced to desperate pleads, hm?" Kuroo smirked, moving to sit beside Kageyama. "Well, Daichi? You're the captain here, after all. What do _you_ think?"

With a growl, Daichi pinched the bridge of his nose and scrunched up his eyes. Suga patted his arm in a calming manner, looking worried. When Daichi spoke up, he spoke bluntly. "I'll call Oikawa and Iwaizumi back. They'll bring him out hunting and we'll make a verdict then. I'm not _rejecting_ you, but mutiny is not tolerated here and we _never_ put each other's lives at risk. So mindless threats like you just pulled are not going to be tolerated, and if you try something like that again-"

"We'll kill you. Got it?" Bokuto finished Daichi's sentence for him, smiling widely in a maniacal manner. The tables were turned on Kageyama; he was surrounded by ghouls, all of which above A-level, most S rated, and one SS rated with two other SS rated on the way. 

"Hinata can join you," Suga added, and Hinata nearly jumped out of his skin. "Right, Hinata?" 

"Huh?" He yelped, attracting the attention of Kageyama, whose eyes narrowed at the boy.

"You want me to hunt with that little thing? He's a dead weight," Kageyama argued, making Hinata growl.

"You lookin' to fight or something? _Huh?_ " Hinata snarled, making Kuroo chuckle a little. He quickly shut up once Kenma slammed his foot down on his, hearing a small crack from the taller one's toe and a small whine of pain from his throat.

"See what I mean?" Kageyama growled up at Suga, who stood his ground and stared dead back at him.

"Hinata is an S rated ghoul. I've seen his work, I've never seen anyone move faster or jump higher than him. He's _not_ a dead weight," Suga defended Hinata, lips strung tight. Kageyama paused, and silence settled for a moment.

"...I don't care. As long as he's not in my way," Kageyama finally said, earning a broad smile from Suga. 

"Perfect!" Suga concluded, turning to Kenma. "Kenma-kun, do you think you can show Hinata around in the meantime? We'll look after Kageyama up here."

Kenma hummed, thin slits for irises locking on Hinata, who gulped thickly. Quickly, he nodded, following the slightly taller boy as they made their way out of the room, hearing Kageyama's low growls of complaint to the older boys left behind.

~

That night, Hinata found himself zipping up a black latex suit. It clung to his skin like glue and allowed him optimal flexibility. Kenma had explained to him that the suit formed around his kagune and that when he released his kagune it wouldn't tear or damage the material. Hinata was enthralled to hear all about how the suit worked, eyes shining in interest and wonder. Kageyama huffed next to him, rolling his eyes.

"Listen, if you're gonna act like such a smart-ass, I don't know if I'll be able to stand you out there," Hinata grunted up at Kageyama, who just smirked in twisted amusement. 

"Whatever. If you're going to be shit out there, I may as well just eat you now," Kageyama snarled lowly, before staring dead at Kenma. His eyes were narrowed to slits, glare sent to intimidate and threaten. Hinata almost felt his knees buckle at the intensity of it, gulping harshly. "I'm _apparently_ on my way to becoming a kakuja as it is."

Kenma stared back, unfazed at the obvious danger. Either that, or he was simply confused, and didn't care enough to reply. From what Hinata had seen from Kenma already today, the latter seemed like the more likely answer.

"Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san will be arriving soon. I suggest you collect your masks and prepare to leave," Kenma sighed, rolling his eyes slightly at Kageyama's words. The taller seemed slightly offended and almost hurt that Kenma hadn't fought back as if disappointed that he was missing out on an opportunity to prove his strength. 

"You better keep up with me," Kageyama muttered over to Hinata, Placing the bloodied mask over his face. It looked as if it originally had been gold, but way now stained and tainted. Luckily, Hinata could tell is what the blood only of humans, not ghouls. Hinata put his own mask on also, clipping in the straps under his red locks. It was a fox mask, modelled from the appearances of Kitsune in Japanese mythology. Thus, that prompted his two aliases; 'little fox' or 'kitsune'. They both pushed their masks above their head, so as to still see each other's faces.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Hinata jumped in place to stretch out his muscles. He jumped at least two feet taller than Kageyama with ease, tucking his legs in and narrowly missing the roof simply because he stretched his hand out to stop himself at the last second, falling silently back down to the ground. Kageyama gawked, dumbfounded at the height the boy had just managed to jump without the use of kagune. Hinata smirked at outshining the boy.

"You can jump very high, Shouyou," Kenma smiled softly, head tilted slightly to the side. "I'm jealous."

"I don't even know how I do it, I've just sort of... always been able to," Hinata laughed awkwardly, scratching behind his ear. 

" _Wow, he can jump!_ " Kageyama said sarcastically, receiving a dark glare from Hinata. "Let's get going already, frogger."

"Frogger? What sort of nickname is that?" Hinata complained, walking with Kageyama out of their temporary shared room and into the entrance hall, where suddenly the both of them were silenced. 

Two other boys, looking to be in their mid-twenties, stood in the middle of the hallway, both wearing the same black material the other two had on. The taller of them had chocolate brown hair and eyes along with soft features. He naturally had a slight smile on his face, making him look approachable. The other, however, had sharp, stark features. His skin was slightly darker, and his muscles larger and more toned. His eyes were narrow and dark, hair spiky. The boy's eyes darted towards Hinata and Kageyama, both frozen in the hallway before them.

"Well if it isn't Kageyama," The shorter growled, turning fully around to face the two. "And Hinata, right?"

They both nodded quickly, and the taller boy turned around. "You haven't changed, Iwaizumi," Kageyama nodded towards the shorter, obviously Iwaizumi. "As for Oikawa-san-"

"Ah, Tobio-chan!" The taller, Oikawa, spouted in a sarcastic cheeriness. "I see _you_ still have a four-metre stick up your ass, hm?"

"Oikawa," Iwaizumi growled in warning, clutching his arm. "It's not worth it."

Oikawa continued to approach Kageyama, unbothered by Iwaizumi and stopping right before Kageyama, nose to nose. "Understand that that _favour_ I supposedly owe you is worth nothing. I killed Kurona-chan as a favour to Donato, _not you_."

" _Oikawa, enough_."

"Iwa-chan, it's fine. We're taking Tobio-chan and Chibi-chan out hunting as a favour for Daichi," Oikawa explained, before a smirk that made Hinata's blood curdle ran across Oikawa's face. "But, no creepy shit, got it? We're on strict orders. Any acting up from _either_ of you, and trust me when I say you will not make it back here breathing. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Kageyama spat, scowl prominent in his features, every letter laced with venom. It made Hinata shiver. Oikawa finally turned fully towards Hinata, who gulped dryly, eyes darting back between him and Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi now was staring at Oikawa, unimpressed with his behaviour. 

"Hey, Chibi-chan-"

"It's Hinata. Shouyou Hinata."

"Well, Shouyou-chan, I heard you can jump. I also heard you're the fastest here, even more so than Yuu-chan. Wanna prove it to us?" Oikawa a=challenged with a genuine smile, making Hinata beam ear to ear and nod quickly. 

"You can count on me, Oikawa-san!" Hinata cheered, making Oikawa chuckle at his enthusiasm. 

"Well, you two, let's get going," Oikawa concluded, reaching for a mask in the shape of a half-moon, covered in rubies and diamonds and other expensive jewels. Hinata's heart jumped, watching Iwaizumi picking up an identical mask, only in reverse, covering the left side of his face instead of the right. Hinata would recognise those masks anywhere; hell, he'd even seen them online being sold by ghoul fanatics. 

"The great kings...!" Hinata gawked, almost glowing at being in the presence of two infamous SS ghouls. Iwaizumi chuckled, pulling the mask down over his face. 

"Guess we're famous then, Oikawa," Iwaizumi mused as the rest of them there pulled their masks down, joining Iwaizumi in anonymity. 

"Well, of course, Iwa-chan. Why would you expect anything less?"

~

Hinata was sprinting; sprinting so much he felt the tingle in his legs as his healing muscles called out in protest. He was smiling wide, in his element in the cold spring air, brisk and sharp on his tongue. He was far ahead of the rest of the group, being instructed to run ahead to watch out for doves, considering his skill at escaping in a pinch. Hinata pushed the thoughts of the night before to the back of his mind, focusing on running on and scanning his surroundings from house rooftops. 

Distant lights signalled a busy centre nearby and Hinata smelled humans, tasting their blood on his teeth. Although he had only eaten that day, his healing injuries caused instincts to run and tell him to feed again. Eyes darting back and forth, he heard the low rumble of voices and the smell of other ghouls, hearing Kageyama catch up with him. Oikawa and Iwaizumi stared at them from a few buildings over, gaze burning into his head and making him halt. Pushing back on his heels, he came to a dead stop right before a jump off into an alley. Kageyama stopped behind him. 

"What's the holdup?" he muttered, loud enough for only Hinata to hear.

"Doves, I can smell them," Hinata explained, the clean, acidic scent hitting his nostrils in a wave. Kageyama raised his eyebrow.

"You can tell them apart from regular humans?" He asked, curious, as he got down on his hunkers and gazed down into the alleyway. Sure enough, two white-cloaked men in suitcases stood at the mouth of the lane, still and unwavering. "Shit, you're right."

"Told you. Leave them alone, we shouldn't engage unless it's necessary," Hinata stated, earning a small hum of approval as Kageyama rose back up, jumping over the alleyway and landing gracefully. Hinata followed quickly after and shot a cheeky grin up at the taller boy. He laughed childishly, as the two began to race. 

Building after building they jumped, roof after roof after roof catching their feet and propelling them forward, neck-in-neck. The wind whistled in their ears, making Hinata laugh and Kageyama smirk, attempting to catch up to the nimble boy who had quickly taken ahead. Hinata closed his eyes, spreading out his arms in a welcome of freedom as he moved to jump a large gap-

_Crack._

_"Hinata!"_ called Kageyama frantically, as he watched the redhead fall down the alleyway and land with a large thud, the boy groaning out in pain. He had broken at least a couple of ribs, and Kageyama's expression clouded with sudden worry, immediately jumping down to the boy's aid. Landing lightly on the ground, he saw Hinata was clutching his stomach, moaning in pain.

"Get the fuck _out_ of here, dumbass! There's doves nearby!" Hinata snarled through gritted teeth, releasing a high pitched whine of intense pain. It made Kageyama cringe, getting down on his knees before Hinata and analysing his injuries.

"No way, they'll think I killed you!" Kageyama retorted, making Hinata laugh weakly. Kageyama's eyes widened. 

"I should've known you wouldn't come down to help me unless it was to help you. Get the fuck out of here," Hinata spat, sadistic grin on his face. Kageyama's breath hitched, throat dry and chest stinging as if he was going to cry. But, he didn't have time to reply, as Hinata's eyes widened and he jumped quickly to his feet, despite his injuries.

"SS rated King found in the south tenth ward, with the little fox, First class Akihiro speaking, calling for backup," a male voice spoke calmly from behind him. "I repeat; calling for backup in the tenth ward, Little Fox has now been promoted to S rated and is capable of fight. Reports of Great Kings standing nearby, requesting backup. Over."

Hinata's voice shook when he turned to Kageyama. "Well done, King," he growled, unleashing huge crimson ukaku kagune akin to flames from between his shoulders. " _You just killed yourself."_


	3. Hallucinate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akaashi and Bokuto confide in each other, and Kageyama’s fate is questioned.

  "What do you think they are going to do about Kageyama?" Akaashi muttered softly, examining the scratches and nicks on Bokuto's back. He was knelt behind him, brows furrowed and focused on the exposed marks before him. Bokuto was sitting forward, shirtless, head in his hands and eyes glaring through his fingers at nothing in particular. They were on their shared bed in their own bedroom; one of the bigger ones in the house, despite being rather tight. He hissed a little when Akaashi began to apply oil to the quinque scars, biting down on his bottom lip before speaking up. 

  "Beats me. Little shit will get what's comin' to him. I can't help but feel somethings up, though," Bokuto replied through gritted teeth, agitated. Akaashi soothed him with light touches and soft shushes, rubbing in the healing oil as gently as he could. Quinque scars normally wouldn't remain, but he had narrowly escaped injury from the CCG's Jason a couple nights ago, who carried knife-like quinque that left bitter cuts. Bokuto remembered the insane glint in his eye, and shivered a little at the thought. 

  "You know, if he would act up, he would do it tonight. Oikawa-san would be able to handle him anyway, he wouldn't be much hassle I'm sure," Akaashi caressed the cup of Bokuto's ear, rubbing his hand through his hair and then leaning in to place a light kiss on the back of his head, through grey and black hair. The soft intimacy made Bokuto sigh, closing his eyes and reaching back to intertwine his fingers with Akaashi's. 

"You push yourself too much, Bokuto-san." 

  There are rare times when Akaashi has an impact on Bokuto that made him relax, unravel, and depend on someone for support. It made him happy and, considering the trauma the boy had already gone through, he needed to give away his control once in a while. They changed positions; Akaashi remained kneeling, while Bokuto lay across the bed, resting his head across his thighs. Akaashi let go of his hand, changing to instead begin to toy with Bokuto's natural hair, which fell in front of his eyes and almost reached the bridge of his nose. It was almost motherly.

  "Why do we have to deal with this?" Bokuto began to whisper, staring up at the ceiling. He was about to go on one of his rants; Akaashi knew it already. They would end either in tears or sleep, sometimes both. The boy was quite childlike in that aspect, wearing himself out eventually. Akaashi just sat and listened, continuing to curl locks of Bokuto's hair in between slender fingers, humming softly and intently listening. 

  "With what, Bokuto-san?" 

  "The doves. Other people wanting us dead? It's not fair, we didn't _ask_ to have to eat humans. I'm sure no one would want to have to kill to survive. It's not... it's not fair on us. They hunt us down back just for existing... and... and Akaashi, what if they kill another one of us?" Bokuto's words began to waver, emotion and discomfort evident in his voice. "They took Goshiki, they... they took Yamamoto. Brutally, too. What if more of us are killed? What if we're locked up like Konoha or Hanamaki? We can't even _see_ them, what if they're... what if they're getting tortured? You saw was it did to Matsukawa when it found out about Hanamaki, it _broke him._

  "I'm sure that isn’t happening, Bokuto-san," Akaashi whispered, now softly rubbing circles with his thumb into Bokuto's cheek. "I don't believe cochlea does ghoul experimentation anymore." 

  "What if you die, Akaashi?" Bokuto said suddenly, staring dead into Akaashi's unwavering gaze. "What if... _what if you died?"_

"I'm not going to die, I promise," Akaashi replied calmly as Bokuto reached up to cup both his cheeks, tears visible in his eyes. "Bokuto-san, listen to me. I'm _not_ going to die." 

  "Of course not. Why would you? You're strong. As strong as I am. I know you... I know you are," Bokuto giggled wetly, laughing through tears and masking the pain behind his gaze. He strengthened his grip a little on Akaashi's face to emphasise his point, beginning to lean up to speak to him. "My Akaashi. The Akaashi I've known for so long. I love you, you got that? I... I love you. So fucking much. You can't forget that, yeah?"

  Akaashi, lips strung tight, leaned into Bokuto's neck and suddenly wrapped his arms around him. The action hid his silent tears, as Bokuto wrapped his arms around his neck. "I love you, Bokuto-san. Don't you die on me." 

   "Of course. My Akaashi would never die either, right?” 

  ~

  Akaashi seemed to have fallen asleep in Bokuto's arms, still fully dressed, when the door to their room slammed open. The two jumped up onto their feet immediately, Akaashi gaining headrush and leaning momentarily on Bokuto, who held him up. Standing in the doorway was Kuroo, mask pulled down below his mouth and eyes engulfed in black and red. His expression was serious; brows furrowed and gaze unwavering. 

  "Get dressed, Oikawa's called for backup. The three of us are getting sent out since we’re on break," Kuroo stated, leaving no room for questions. 

  Grabbing their suits and masks off the dresser, the two boys were already changing. "Why the hell does Oikawa need backup? Surely, he can handle-" 

  "The CCG ambushed them," Kuroo growled out, pulling his mask up to cover his face properly and throwing up the furry hood of his corduroy jacket. "They did something to Kageyama."

    
~

Hinata stood his ground, enlarging both wings of kagune to a threatening amount, and glancing to his left towards Kageyama. He had unleashed his own kagune; tendrils of muscle released from his lower back and floating ominously, ready to strike. He had positioned himself slightly in front of the injured Hinata, who’s blood pumped loudly through his ears. Pain like lightning struck through his abdomen, his ribs crying out to just _kill these lowlifes and eat, to heal_. 

“Focus, frogger,” Kageyama whispered, before suddenly striking out his kagune towards one officer, it whipping against the man and sending him flying. The whiplash killed him instantly, snapping his neck. Hinata, determines not to let Kageyama outshine him as he attacked the other officer, moved forward and hardened his kagune.

This one was putting up more of a fight, slashing and cutting at Kageyama’s kagune mindlessly, yelling out. Hinata jumped to the wall, gripping onto a hole to balance and sending unimaginably sharp shards of his kagune raining down on the officer. They struck him everywhere and he let out a small whimper, before falling dead on the floor. 

“It really wasn’t the time for nicknames, idiot,” Hinata sighed, falling to the ground and landing lightly before launching on the dead body. He tore down on the corpse, ripping out its throat and spitting out the windpipe, blood covering his face messily. 

“You’re not the cleanest eater, are you?” Kageyama cringed, watching Hinata gulp harshly and laugh awkwardly. Once he was satisfied, he jumped up again, turning towards the other ghoul. 

_Fwip._

“Don’t be jealous, Kageyama-kun,” Hinata laughed, eyes closed. When he was met with silence, his laughter faded out and his eyes opened, wide. Kageyama stood with his head dipped slightly forward, making a hiss and clutching his neck. His eyes were screened shut as he staggered back, leaning against the wall as his breathing quickened. 

Hinata rushed over, breathing erratic and panicked. “Kageyama? Kageyama, What- what happened? Oh my god—!”

“Get the fuck out of here! They’ve inject.. something... please, Hinata...!” Kageyama began to beg, clutching Hinata’s arm with his free hand that wasn’t covering the left side of his neck. Growling, Hinata moved Kageyama’s hand, and a small silver dart could be seen on the side of his neck. Black feathers stuck out the end, with no name or stamp on it. Hinata’s grabbed it in a fist, yanking it out of the boy’s neck. 

“What the fuck?” Hinata muttered, and Kageyama began to shake before him. Discarding the dart in the corner, Hinata approached Kageyama, reaching out to rip the mask off his face. When Hinata saw what law before him, his hand went limp and dropped the mask as he gasped. “Kageyama... Kageyama are you-?” 

Hinata was cut off with a growl; a terrifyingly feral growl coming from the depths of Kageyama’s throat and aimed directly at him. His eyes were different; the kakugan were reversed. Instead of red amongst black, Black pupils lay amongst an expanse of red, the veins in his eyes so dark they didn’t even show reflection. Kageyama’s teeth were bared as he faced Hinata fully, suddenly standing up straight. 

“Kageyama, can you hear me?! _Stop,_ you’re scaring me!” Hinata began to plead, words desperate. He hardened his kagune for good measure and pushed his mask up to his forehead, taking a step back when Kageyama took one forward. “It’s me, look at me! It’s Hinata, come on Kageyama! _Please_!” 

“ _Scum_.”

His reflexes kicked in when Kageyama whipped a tentacle at him, as he quickly defended himself. The force of the blow pushed him backward, bearing the opposite wall of the alley and making him yelp. 

“Kageyama, _STOP_ ,” Hinata suddenly demanded, brows furrowed. He quickly fired shards of his kagune at Kageyama, who batted away most. The couple that he missed stabbed through his shoulder, making him yell out in pain. Yet, it didn’t slow his approach. “You’re stronger than that. I know it. I know it!” 

“ _You don’t know me!_ ” Kageyama shouted, eyes filling with tears. “ _You’ll... You’ll never know me!_ ”

Realisation clicked in Hinata’s head. Kageyama wasn’t trying to kill _him. He was hallucinating._

He had read up on recent CCG news and they had developed a drug that makes anyone relive their darkest memories. Hinata appeared as someone else right now, someone that Kageyama hates. And he’s killed with nothing other than bloodlust. He remembered that it should wear off in an hour, and it was used in experimentation to see if it could sedate ghouls. 

“I just have to keep him distracted for an hour!” Hinata said lowly, thinking out loud to himself, before Kageyama three another swing his way. Hinata jumped to avoid it, and Kageyama instead hit a large amount of trash cans. 

With a large crash, Kageyama suddenly began an onslaught of fast attacks. Hit after hit sent Hinata staggering, until suddenly a crack appeared in his kagune. “Shit!” He yelled, feeling his kagune begin to give under pressure. “Kageyama! Stop it!” 

“Bite your fucking tongue,” he snarled, blind to Hinata’s pleads. Five tentacles began to merge together, forming a large bat-like kagune. Hinata gasped, thoughts that he was truly and utterly fucked running through his head. Yet, he laughed. Laughed in a way that said _’I’m giving up. This is it for me.’_ And so, Hinata closed his eyes slightly, waiting for his kagune to shatter and to be blown to bits. 

But, the blow never came. 

The sound of a crash and the scratch of metal came from in front of him, followed by a deep shout. Hinata gasped, eyes opening to see Iwaizumi standing before him. Large shields of purple kagune blocked the two of them from the blow. Kageyama, however, was still pressing forward, and Iwaizumi dug his feet into the ground and pushed back. His eyes quickly started behind him to ensure Hinata and his healing kagune were okay. 

Suddenly, Hinata heard a large slice an a yell of excruciating pain. The pressure was relieved from Iwaizumi, who looked to see Kageyama writhing in pain on the ground. Oikawa stood above him, engorged Bikaku kagune stained with blood. Kageyama’s kagune has been cut off from the root, disabling his healing for a small amount of time. 

“Called it, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa grinned towards Iwaizumi. The other snarled, slapping oikawa over the back of the head and retracting his kagune. “That hurt!” 

“ _That_ hurt after you just fought off like four doves?” Iwaizumi sighed, turning around to face Hinata. “Hey, are you hurt?” 

“I’m- I’m fine, but is he gonna be okay?” Hinata asked, words spilling out of his mouth all too quickly as Oikawa examines Kageyama’s whimpering form, wrapping his hands together with the tie of a nearby officer. He could easily break it, but seemed a little too tired to. 

“Why... why would you want to know? He tried to kill you, Shouyou-chan,” Oikawa hummed, standing up straight and pressing the toe of his boot to Kageyama’s cheek, who attempted to spit up at him. Oikawa went quiet, before whispering lowly. “What happened to his eyes...?” 

“He didn’t... he didn’t mean it- I know he didn’t! Why would he even _try_ to kill me?” Hinata began to question himself, shoving his hands in his hair and gripping the locks tight. “He was-“ 

“Oh, looks like we missed the good part, Bo-kun,” the teasing tone of Kuroo suddenly interrupted him, and the four heads whipped around. Three figures stood in the alleyway, having jumped down from the roof. 

On the left stood Akaashi, silent and brooding, a white mask with black markings covering the lower half of his face. The past covering his nose had a hooked beak like an owl, and he wore the latex suit of the fifth quarter. Bokuto stood beside him, his mask the same shape but brown with white markings, also wearin the black suit. Kuroo, however, wore jeans and a corduroy green jacket that reached his knees. A hood lined with black fur similar to his hair was pulled up, surrounding a black full-face mask that resembled a lion and its mane. 

“Awwww, Akaashi, we should have left earlier!!!” Bokuto complained, earning a sharp glare from the other boy. 

“So what happened here?” Akaashi inquired, walking up beside Oikawa to stare down at Kageyama. He deactivated his kakugan, pulling his mask down his face to rest around his neck. “He looks pretty dead.” 

“He lashed out at Hinata and we had to interject. Hinata put up a good fight but he went off his head; it took both Iwa-chan and I to cut off his kagune,” Oikawa explained, with a slight laziness in his tone. “Bo-chan, Tetsu-chan, do you think you can get him back to the house? He probably won’t fight back, his regeneration isn’t working and he’s really worn out.” 

“Shittykawa, you can carry him yourself, you know!” Iwaizumi growled, but Kuroo and Bokuto only laughed, going to pick up the boy. “I’m all seriousness, it’s Ukai’s call in the end. I don’t know if he’s gonna let him stay.”

“I don’t even know if Ukai will let him _live_ ,” Oikawa snickered cruelly, kicking the side of Kageyama’s head and making him cry out. 

“That was _so_ unnecessary, Oikawa-san,” Kuroo frowned, examining the blood now coming from Kageyama’s ears. 

“Tetsu-chan, you’re no fun!” Oikawa giggled, and Iwaizumi grabbed him by the ear and growled something into it. It made him visibly shiver, grinning and darting his tongue out. 

“Wait, what’s going to happen?” Hinata said suddenly, staring up at the others. Akaashi locked eyes with Bokuto for a moment before extending a hand to Hinata, helping him to his feet. 

“Kageyama-san is probably going to be killed.” 

~

Hinata didn’t even know this room existed in this house. It was the basement; a large, hall-like room that was dimly lit with damaged seating. The floor was concrete, the heating not reaching this low in the ground and resulting in the freezing temperatures. 

Multiple people had come up to him and introduced themselves, as other members of the fifth quarter, but in his confused daze he didn’t catch any of them. He now sat beside a large brute of a man, who seemed to be extremely jumpy and a lot more frightened and fragile than he looked. He had introduced himself as Asahi Azumane, and he spoke softly and kindly. His hair was tied back in a bun, a goatee on his chin, his eyes soft, as he talked to Nishinoya, who sat to Asahi’s side. 

He had finally got to meet the other boy that saved him, and made sure to give his thanks, but they weren’t that sincere. Not with what he had to face before them. 

Kageyama was tied to a chair at the front of the room. He had been silently sobbing for a while now, his hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly. The chains he was tied in were coated in RC suppressants. His head hung low, but by the way his chest heaved you could tell he was a mess. Every now and then he’s look up and stare directly at Hinata, who could see that the injection had worn off and he was no longer hallucinating. Hinata could hardly look back at the pained gaze, and luckily when he did it again a man stood up at the front of the room and diverted Kageyama’s attention. 

The man was old; grey hair in a choppy cut with a small beard at the end of his chin. Yet, despite his obvious old age, the man looked well-built and athletic. He was wearing a formal shirt and pants, the sleeves of his shirt pushed up to his elbows.

“Everyone, seats, now,” he commanded, tone demanding respect. By the way everyone rushed to their seats, you could see he was well respected. The empty seat beside him was then filled by Suga, who smiled sympathetically at Hinata and mouthed the words ‘are you okay?’. Hinata responded with a curt nod. 

“I’ve issued a full recall regarding the case of... Kageyama Tobio,” Ukai began, eyes scanning the crowd. He suddenly let out a low growl, voice rising slightly in pitch. “Has anyone seen Keishin? Where is he?” 

“He’s just back from the eighteenth ward, he said he’d be here soon,” someone in the back shouted, resulting in a low growl from Ukai which caused a rumble of laughter through the crowd. The majority were men, but he could see at least four girls amongst the sea of people. 

“Whatever, I’m calling the meeting. Now, Oikawa, care to explain to me why we have the king of the seventh ward sitting in front of me?” Ukai began, speaking to degrade the already broken Kageyama. 

“He seeker refuge here. Said the doves were onto him. We brought him out hunting with Shouyou-chan and he tried to kill him; took both Iwa-chan and I to take him out,” Oikawa explained briefly, and a few heads turned towards Hinata. “I call for him to be killed, but you should probably talk to the victim first.” 

“Hinata Shouyou, stand,” Ukai said and Hinata jumped to his feet, intimidated by the ghoul on the pedestal. “Recount the events that occurred earlier this evening.” 

“Well, Kageyama and I began to race each other, and I tripped between a building and fell,” Hinata began, fiddling his hands together and avoiding Kageyama’s broken gaze. “He came down to help me. He protected me against the two doves, and we killed them together. There were meant to be other doves on the way, but none arrived. I ate one of them, healing the couple of ribs I had broken from the fall. And... when we were just... joking around I guess... something got shot into Kageyama.” 

“Wait, what?” Oikawa interrupted, and the vibe of the room changed. “Something shot him?” 

“There was a dart in his neck, I saw it myself! Kageyama changed... he started acting differently. It was a hallucinogenic, I swear-!” 

“Calm down, Hinata!” Suga said suddenly, grabbing the panicking boy by the wrist. Hinata jolted away, suddenly a lot more agitated and instinct-driven than before. 

“Bullshit, he’s probably working with him!” Oikawa suddenly shouted, causing a surge of voices to back him up, ridiculing Hinata for being ‘insane’, ‘childish’, ‘crazy’. 

“Hinata, Stop this, you gotta think straight,” Suga attempted to reason with the emotional boy, who was now backing up and moving towards Kageyama, feeling a gut pull toward him. “He tried to _kill_ you, you don’t know what he could-!” 

“I know Kageyama! I know he wouldn’t do it!” 

“Hinata, you’ve known him for a day!” Daichi shouted from the other end of the room, making his way quickly towards Suga and Hinata. “You don’t know him!” 

But Hinata wasn’t having it, he suddenly sprinted towards Kageyama, crashing in front of him and landing on his side. Unwavering, he stood back up, standing between the members of the fifth quarter and Kageyama. His kakugan engulfed his eyes, scent becoming protective and possessive. 

“ _If you want to get at Kageyama, you have to get through me first!_ ” 

The room fell to silence. “Well, knock me down with a feather,” Kuroo snickered sarcastically. “Looks like they’ve already fallen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of the third chapter! I’m a believer in the three episode rule, and I believe that also translates over to fanfics, so I hope I’ve got you guys interested! I’m curious to hear your predictions, so I’m gonna ask a question; 
> 
> Do you think any of the main characters will die? If so, who? Or, who would you like to see die?
> 
> Thanks for the support!


	4. Freckles and Constellations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A moment with three. Oikawa is as clear as glass. Ghoul blood smells overwhelmingly strong.

Kageyama has never drawn the long straw in life.

  From the moment he was born, he learned to fight. Learned that time was fleeting, not something to be wasted on savoured moments and little wrinkles in the blanket of his consciousness. He learned that the rest of the world wouldn't wait for him to get stronger, as they progressed in leaps and bounds and he was left dragging weights attached to cuffs on his feet behind him. 

  He didn't remember his parents. After all, why would he? If they were such shitheads to him while he was younger, why did they deserve a place in his brain and take up precious memories when those spaces could be filled with something so much bigger? 

Something more _worthwhile_. 

~

The dark-haired boy was surprised when he woke up, unsure of where he exactly was, unable to find his bearings with a moist, hot towel folded on his forehead. He could hear the drop of water to his right from fabric being twisted and drained despite the sound of blood rushing to his ears. 

Kageyama hissed, sitting up and feeling his head spin. He forced his eyes open, seeing he was lying in a single bed in a very small room. Hinata was about a meter to his right in another bed, cross legged but awake, playing Mario Cart on a battered-looking DS, the pen missing and the top screen cracked. In between both of them, Suga sat on the ground over a bucket and rinsed towels, not noticing Kageyama rising. His eyebrows were furrowed, focused on the task before him. He was wearing heavy rimmed glasses, something Kageyama had never seen on him. 

Hinata looked unkempt. His hair was messy, throat strung tense with defined bags and dark circles settled under his eyes. His t-shirt was loose on his torso, showing healed scars that weren’t there beforehand.

“What the fuck, Shouyou?” Kageyama growled, making both Suga and Hinata jump. His growl held little bite, though, as he hissed and clutched his side in pain. His voice was painful-sounding; gritted and rough from the days of silence.

“Shouyou...?” Suga began in slight disbelief. He jumped to his feet, holding out his hands to settle Kageyama. He had a calming demeanour, gently pressing Kageyama back into a more relaxing position and placing the towel back on his head properly.

“Kageyama, you’re awake!” Hinata exclaimed, as Suga analysed him. Kageyama held a weird sense of respect for Suga, and he wasn’t entirely sure why. The grey-haired boy, although relatively submissive and incredibly gentle, held a sort of demeanour that you _wouldn’t fuck with._

“What happened? Why can’t... I can’t remember anything...?” Kageyama muttered, words coming fast and tumbling out jumbled together. “What’s going on?” 

“You passed out after Hinata defended you in your trial. You’ve been really sick ever since,” Suga explained, shoving a thermometer in between Kageyama’s lips and ignoring the boy’s baffled expression. “Chills, fevers, vomiting in your sleep... you’ve practically been in a coma for the last four days. You’re lucky you ate a lot before you passed out, though-“ 

“Hold _up!_ ” Kageyama interrupted, spitting out the thermometer. Suga growled lowly, shaking his head. “What are you talking about? I can only remember... I can only remember as far as when me and Hinata had the race, I have no idea what you’re on about, Sugawara-san.” 

Suga sighed, taking off his glasses and placing him on the bedside table, alongside a wooden alarm clock. He held the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and scrunched his eyes shut, pausing for a beat. 

“You and Hinata were caught up in a race together and were distracted, and then Hinata forgot about his footing and fell. He broke a couple ribs and healed himself after you two collectively killed two low ranking CCG officers. Afterwards, you were shot. We believe it was by a hallucinogenic. You attacked Hinata, and Tooru and Hajime had to step in to stop you. One of your Kagune Sacs was removed by accident, hence the reason your immune system and overall strength is down.” 

Hinata pursed his lips together, closing his eyes as he continued the story himself. “You were saying some really weird stuff, Kageyama. I didn’t... understand. But you were really strong. I didn’t know what to do...! I... I believe it wasn’t you, though. When you were brought back unconscious and the fifth quarter was about to kill you... I... I stood in between you and the rest of them. Because I knew you wouldn’t do that. For some reason. Even though... even though...!” Hinata was choking up now, tears in his eyes. “Even though I had only known you a little while. I just knew you wouldn’t, okay? It feels like... I’ve known you for years already.” 

“Tooru mentioned to me you two had crazy chemistry, but...” Suga glances between the two boys, Kageyama staring at Hinata sniffling. “I didn’t think you were connected to this extent.” 

Kageyama was silent, nodding slightly as every fact was registered in his head. He was a bit dumbfounded. He didn’t know what to do with all of this information. 

“Akaashi-san went out and found the dart on his own. Bokuto-san nearly killed him when he came back, he was so worried. He’s the reason you’re not dead right now, Kageyama,” Hinata explained, fiddling his hands. “Kuroo-san and Kenma had a look at the serum and experimented with it to find it was a hallucinogenic. You were found not guilty and you’re free to join the quarter.” 

“That is, if you want to,” Suga muttered, smiling softly as he looked down at Kageyama.   
    
“I... I don’t know what to say,” Kageyama whispered, taking the towel from off his head as he leaned forward. 

“Ah-ah! I wouldn’t take that off if I were you!” Suga scolded Kageyama, watching as he swiftly put back the towel. “They’ve been working wonders on your temperature. It was Hinata’s idea.” 

“So Hinata’s idea was to put a boiled rag on my head?” Kageyama growled, making both boys before him laugh softly. 

Suga turned to Hinata. “Can you leave me alone with Kageyama for a bit? Need to discuss some stuff with him, if that’s okay?” 

“Work away, I’ll be down with Daichi-san and Nishinoya-kun if you need me,” Hinata beamed, smile so bright it was blinding. Kageyama found himself smiling softly for a reason he wasn’t sure of. 

Suga sat on Hinata’s bed, legs parted as he leaned on them. “So, what do you think you’re going to do?” 

Kageyama was a little startled by the question, blushing a couple hues of rose as he averted his gaze from Suga. “I’m... not sure. I want to join the quarter. I want to... thank Akaashi-san. And everyone else. For putting up with me. Thank you, also, Sugawara-san-“ 

“You don’t need to be so formal. Suga is fine.” 

“I... I want to thank you, S-Suga. You’ve obviously been helping me a lot the past few days and you encouraged the others to let me join even when I first came here,” Kageyama muttered through gritted teeth, each word a little forced as his fists clenched tighter. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a burden.” 

“Not at all, Kageyama-kun. In fact, it’s been a pleasure. I got to see how much Hinata really cares about you, after all,” Suga began to tease, watching Kageyama go red in the face. “He’s been hovering over you like a worried parent since the trial, and you should’ve seen his relief when Keiji found the dart. Although, it was nothing compared to Bokuto’s relief when he saw Keiji was simply alive. Trust me, if Keiji didn’t come back, you and Hinata would both be dead. You’ve caused quite a stir in the news, the both of you.” 

“Let me guess, because Hinata is meant to be dead?” Kageyama sighed. 

“Why did you call him Shouyou when you first woke up, by the way? I’m only curious,” Suga smirked, eyes scrunching up as he did so. 

Kageyama growled a little, barely heard as he put off the question with a pause. “...I guess... I was just _glad_ he was _alive_. It’s a surprise the dumbass didn’t kill himself.” 

Suga hummed in approval, before slapping his thighs and standing up. “Your offer to join the quarter still stands. If you want to sign the papers feel free to speak to Daichi at some stage. I’d say think about it for a bit first, maybe. Don’t get up, either! Doctor Suga’s orders!” 

“Yeah, whatever,” Kageyama huffed, closing his eyes as he heard Suga leave the room.

~

“You’re a real shithead, you know that?” Iwaizumi said to Oikawa, not even facing him. He was instead focused on the night sky above him, stars sprawled and scattered throughout a void, which reflected in Oikawa’s transfixed gaze. The two of them were on the roof of the quarter’s building, Oikawa having wandered up there due to the clear sky and relatively warm weather. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Oikawa scoffed, refusing to tear his gaze away from the sky as he traced constellations with his eyes. 

“Well, for starters, I believe you purposefully cut out Kageyama’s kagune. Then you tried your hardest to get him killed in the trial, and then you still denied the dart was real even when it was sitting right in front of you,” Iwaizumi listed with an edge in his voice. He was relatively calm, considering his brash personality and short temper. “You have something against Kageyama, and it isn’t to do with the fact that you helped him those years back. There’s another reason.” 

Oikawa didn’t respond right away, he just turned his gaze to Iwaizumi who was staring at him expectantly. They shared a look for a moment, before Oikawa sighed. “You broke me, Iwa-chan. Am I as clear as glass these days, or something?” He muttered teasingly, but Iwaizumi didn’t play along. 

“So there is something, huh?” Iwaizumi lulled, his voice low and soothing. “You’re expected to elaborate now, you know.” 

Oikawa began to twiddle his fingers together, occupying his hands so he wouldn’t have to focus on Iwaizumi. “I suppose... I made a promise. To Kageyama’s mother. When I was ten, they met me. They gave him to me, since I was living on my own anyway. This was around the time I met you. He was six at the time. I promised his mother I’d train him up, so by the time he was my age, he could fend for himself. I also promised her that I’d protect him, that I would be there. Because that’s what his mother did for my own. That’s how I knew the Kageyamas, after all.” 

Iwaizumi nodded, closing his eyes and then turning his head out towards the cityscape and stars. “You were annoyed that he surpassed you so quickly.” 

Oikawa gritted his teeth together, fists clenching. “So I really am clear as glass then, huh?” He sniffed, attempting to laugh through wet anger. 

Iwaizumi paused. “Not particularly, no. To me you are, but that’s only because we’ve known each other for 15 years. The only other person who can see through you is Suga, but he can read anyone like a book. Even me.” 

“Even stone-cold Iwa-chan?” Oikawa giggled, earring half assed punch in the shoulder. Iwaizumi smirked. 

“It’s cold out here. We should go in.” 

The stars twinkled silently.

~

“I’m heading out,” Suga called out in the kitchen, his mask around his neck. Daichi hummed in acknowledgment, continuing to read the racing section of the paper, looking to see if the horse he bet on with Asahi had won. The door closed quietly, leaving Daichi alone with Hinata in the kitchen. 

“Have you met Yachi-san yet, Hinata?” Daichi asked, placing the paper down on the counter. Hinata was still on his DS, and tore his eyes away after a half a minute to reply. He shook his head, brows furrowing and scrunching the light freckles on his nose. 

“She’s down with Kenma if you want to go say hi. Would the three of you be able to go pick up some messages for me?” Daichi suggested, walking over to Hinata and handing him 1500 yen. 

“It’s the middle of the night, Daichi-san!” Hinata exclaimed, but Daichi merely laughed. 

“There’s a twenty-four-seven shop just up the road. Suga should be nearby there if you need anything, anyway. We just need shampoo, conditioner, cleaning supplies... that sort of stuff. I’ll call up Kenma now.” 

“Will do, Daichi-san!” Hinata saluted the quarter’s resident captain and made the burly boy laugh. Daichi then proceeded to knock loudly on an exposed pipe connected to Kenma’s room directly below, signalling they needed him upstairs. 

Kenma was up in the kitchen less than a minute later. He was followed by a girl the same height as him, blonde hair strung back in a ponytail with a soft smile on her face. She was in light clothes; a loose jumper and leggings, along with black runners. 

“Yachi, this is Hinata. He joined here a few days ago,” Daichi explained. Yachi waved politely at Hinata, but turned back towards Daichi. “I was just wondering if you guys could run out for me for a bit, Hinata will explain. Thanks guys,” Daichi smiled, rubbing Hinata’s head fondly despite the fact the boy was twenty one. 

“Let’s go!” Yachi said with a wide smile as the three left the house with the money, venturing out onto abandoned Tokyo streets and silent alleyways. 

The three of them stayed relatively quiet on the journey. The silence was unsettling at the least, making Hinata’s skin crawl as he tried to make conversation with the shy two with him. 

“And so, Kageyama is still an ass. Even despite the fact I practically saved him,” Hinata explained to Yachi as they neared the stark lights of the store. 

“Oh, he sounds funny! I’ve been meaning to see him, but isn’t he sick?” Yachi asked, eyes widening a little. 

“He’s getting better, he woke up to... today...” Hinata trailed off, suddenly sniffing the air. “Do you guys smell that?” 

“Smells like blood,” Kenma whispered, placing a hand over his mouth and nose, disgusted by the odour. “Ghoul blood, no less.” 

Yachi made a face, pulling her sleeve down over her hand and covering her mouth. The three hurried inside the store, relieved of the scent as they quickly gathered their things and paid. The cashier looked the three up and down. 

“You young ones should be careful,” the man said, voice aged and cracked. “There’s always ghouls out at this time.” 

Yachi laughed loudly all of a sudden in one burst and then stopped, leaving an air of extreme awkwardness between everyone. “Thank you,” Kenma muttered quickly before he dragged Yachi out of the shop, who was frozen. 

“You’re really not good in these situations, Hitoka,” Kenma sighed, glaring a little at Yachi. “You’re gonna get us caught one of these days, despite the fact we’re not even field ghouls.” 

Hinata had stopped in his tracks, staring at something on the ground with his hand covering his mouth. He was shaking violently, tears streaming silently down his cheeks as he tried to make a noise, but couldn’t. 

“Shouyou?” Kenma asked, before shrieking and jumping backwards. A pool of blood was seeping around the corner, originating from the alleyway. 

All they could see was a pale hand, and moles like constellations decorating the victim’s skin.


	5. Shame and the Shameless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return of a missing one, and a view of the sunrise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for this chapter being shorter than normal. The only reason?
> 
> Shit is about to get very fucking real next chapter.
> 
> (Also, please forgive Tsukishima’s characterisation in this chapter. I’ve got a good bit of character development planned for him.)

  "His name is Tadashi Yamaguchi..." Suga muttered sadly, analysing the tanned, freckled boy tucked into the bed. Akaashi was tending to the large gash on his chest, lips strung tight and eyebrows furrowed in discomfort and worry. "He's actually a part of the quarter. He's been missing for the better part of a month, I'd say. Him and another ghoul from here, Kei Tsukishima." 

  Akaashi growled suddenly, cutting across Suga. "It's Tsukishima's own fucking fault this happened, and he knows it," he spat through gritted teeth, voice drenched in quiet venom Hinata had not yet seen from the boy. "The little shit doesn't even make an appearance after, either." 

  "Akaashi-san-?" Hinata whispered, reaching out a hand towards the man, but being pulled back quietly by Suga. Akaashi was shaking with rage, fists clenched so tight his nails were cutting into the palm of his hands. It was only then when Hinata noticed the ghosts of tears welling up in his eyes, and he was unsure whether it was wet anger or true, unfiltered sadness brought on by a bitter truth. 

  "Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are childhood friends. They've always been close, and Yamaguchi looked up to Tsukishima in _so_ many ways," Suga explained quietly to Hinata, not taking his eyes away from the unconscious man on the bed. Yamaguchi was lanky and tanned, his hair chin length and tied back similar to Asahi's, but looser. 

  "Where did they go?" Hinata asked, glancing at Suga's pained expression. 

  "They... well, I don't know. I really don't. But, Tsukishima is still out there, and doesn't know where Yamaguchi is. I'd say he'll come soon," Suga concluded, as Akaashi also stood up, throwing the bloody sponge into the basin he brought upstairs. 

  "If he comes he's going to have to deal with Kuroo-san. He's _livid_ ," Akaashi snarled, sniffing and rubbing his eyes on his shoulder due to his occupied hands. "Oh, and Kageyama's up, Hinata. I forgot to mention that to you. His stubbornness won over and now he's up and about." 

  Hinata wanted to smile, wanted to go running to the taller boy, see how he was, how he felt, but he couldn't bring himself to. He just nodded slightly, following Akaashi and Suga down the stairs silently. He glanced back at the open door, hearing heavy, laboured breathing from the small room. 

  "So why is everyone so angry at Tsukishima, anyway?" Hinata asked curiously, question lacking confidence. Suga turned back towards him, opening his mouth to answer. 

  A crash tore throughout the house, originating from the back door, making Suga rush down the stairs and Akaashi quickly place down the bloody basin to follow. The sound almost ripped the plaster from the walls, and lord knew that wasn't the end. 

"Where the _FUCK_ have you been?!" Kuroo's voice boomed in the kitchen, silencing the others who had walked in. Along with the three who had arrived, Kageyama and Kenma sat at the kitchen table, with Asahi standing and looking determined, a contradiction to his feeble personality. Daichi also stood quietly, expression calm and collected. 

  The minute after the boy crashed through the door, Kuroo had him pinned to the wall and his kakugan bared. His teeth were gritted tight, staring at the boy who had shock plastered on his face, his kakugan also out. Hinata gasped silently, noticing that this boy wasn't a full ghoul. Only one kakugan was activated, signalling either an artificial ghoul or a rare half-ghoul. This was Tsukishima, he could tell already.

  " _WELL?!_ " Kuroo barked, banging Tsukishima up against the wall and causing a sprawling crack to appear. The blonde boy choked slightly, unable to speak under the crushing pressure to his throat. 

  " _Kuroo!_ Put him down, let him talk!" Daichi commanded, making Kuroo growl and spit in the Tsukishima's face, throwing him to the ground with enough strength to crack the tiles. The anger emanating from his stance was enough to make anyone freeze in fear, but not Tsukishima. He was snarling on all fours on the ground, staring with rage up at the black haired man. 

  "Don't just lay there growling," Akaashi bit down at Tsukishima, eyes holding animal-like madness as he stood next to Kuroo. " _Explain yourself._ "

  Hinata turned to Suga, who was observing the scene with bated breath, looking between Daichi and the boy on the ground. Until, finally, Tsukishima spoke up. 

  He coughed first, two spots of blood appearing on cracked pearl tile and seeping into the gaps. "What, did I fuck up your plans again?" He sneered up at the two men, wiping the red liquid from his lips. "You know for a fact that what happened to Goshiki wasn't my fault, you just don't want to admit your own faults to yourself. I'm here for Yamaguchi, that's all." 

  "He's unconscious, and not waking up anytime soon," Daichi answered with a scowl and a slight sigh in his words. "You don't look like you can go back out there either, to be entirely honest." 

  "You can blame Kuroo for that," Tsukishima sniffed, moving to stand up and stumbling slightly, no one coming to his aid. "We were staying in hostels, if you must ask. Yamaguchi left on his own, and I knew you guys would come across him. So I came here." 

  "And assumed you'd be welcomed back with open arms?" Akaashi glowered with wide, insane eyes. 

  "Well, I thought you'd have a _little_ sympathy. After all, I did hear you took the king on. Like the _real_ king of the seventh ward. I hear he rivals Oikawa and everything..." Tsukishima stared towards Kageyama, licking chapped lips. 

  "God, you're even more fucking nuts than I remember," Kuroo mumbled with a lilt of disbelief in his voice.

  "You've only just gotten an S rate, this guy is SS, susceptible to change, you can't take him on," Suga muttered, cutting across Tsukishima, voice turning sour. "And you know that if you had stayed out any longer than you had, you would've been cut up and put it a box for a dove, _exactly like Ennoshita!_ " 

  " _Koushi_!" Daichi scolded, moving to stand in between Tsukishima and the others. "That's enough, the lot of you. Tsukishima, go up to Yamaguchi. He's upstairs. We're reporting you to the doves if we find you've taken him. Don't make any rash decisions." 

  The blonde boy scoffed, rolling his eyes and turning on his heel out of the room. Daichi turned to Suga, lips strung tight. "As for you, Suga? That was totally uncalled for," he mumbled, voice in a slight growl as he pushed past the other, making it a point to push at his shoulder and make him stagger. Daichi, after all, was much bulkier than Suga, and could easily knock him over.

  Suga's hazel eyes brimmed with sudden tears. He slapped a hand over his mouth and screwed his eyes shut, regret prominent in his features. The look on his face and the incident with Tsukishima had pushed all the wrong buttons.

  Daichi stormed out of the back door, grabbing a skull-like mask on the way out. Akaashi approached Suga, wrapping his arms around him as silent sobs raked through his body. Sniffles could be heard throughout the room, Hinata keeping his eyes glued to the floor, finding interest in staring at his feet kick around. 

  "He didn't have to react like that. You were angry," Kuroo mumbled, voice distraught as Suga leaned further into Akaashi, cries fading a little with the boy's soothing touch. "Rightfully so. You were one of the closest with Ennoshita, after all. He looked up to you. Daichi wasn't the one who had to fight a dove with his friend's kagune, after all." 

  Kuroo patted Suga's locks, comforting. He was a gentle man, caring. He looked up to Kenma, signalling him to come over. Kenma rose up from his chair, raising his eyebrows in questioning at Kuroo. 

  "You have cinnamon hot chocolate downstairs, right?" Kuroo whispered. Suga smiles softly, pushing back from Akaashi to face Kuroo and Kenma. 

  "You don't have to, Kenma. It's you're favourite, after all," Suga laughed wetly, rubbing at his eyes and smiling through heavy tear stains. 

  "Well, if it would make you feel better, Suga-san, I don't see why not," Kenma replied, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "Besides, I know if Kuro-san did something like that to me, I would want cinnamon hot chocolate." 

  Suga's face twisted from a pained frown into a grateful smile, mouthing thank you as another tear spilled from his eyes. 

  "It's nearly morning, we should all go to bed soon," Kuroo suggested, turning towards Kageyama and Hinata. "You two should head upstairs, we'll take care of things down here." 

  "Are we still hunting tomorrow, though?" Kageyama asked, slightly quieter than normal. He was being careful, not wanting to trip up and make Suga start crying again. 

  "I'll go with you guys tomorrow," Suga offered, eyes wide as he rubbed away a large, fat tear. Akaashi raised an eyebrow, taken aback.

  "Are you sure, Koushi?" Akaashi muttered in question, holding out his hands hesitantly. "I mean, if you come across anything else, I'm not sure if you can take it, maybe wait a bit?" 

  "I... I want to do this," Suga whispered in determination, flashing a stubborn stare to Akaashi. The taller boy smiled, impressed. 

  "I mean, if you say so," Akaashi laughed. "We should go get you some of Kenma's hot chocolate first, maybe." 

  ~

  Two days later, Hinata found himself balancing on an electric wire, holding out his hands like a child imitating an airplane.

  "I look like a circus act, don't I Kageyama?" Hinata laughed, jumping up and landing fluidly with his other foot in front. Kageyama scoffed, rolling his eyes.

  "You're going to break your ribs again," he growled, hands shoved in the pockets of a long, khaki jacket similar to the one Kuroo had worn a while back when Kageyama had been shot. "And this time, I won't be there to save you."

  "You were trying to kill me more than save me!" Hinata shot back slightly louder than usual, resulting in an annoyed shush from Kageyama, who twisted his lips in a displeased scowl. 

“And this is exactly the reason why Sugawara-san couldn’t join us tonight. He knew you’d blow our cover,” Kageyama whispered frantically, sitting on the edge of a flat roof and leaving his feet dangling. Hinata cocked his head to the side, jumping from the wire and moving to sit beside Kageyama, sitting down also. 

“I wish we could do this more often,” Hinata sighed, taking off his mask and placing it beside him. “Not having to run from doves, not having to fight anyone, just kind of... hanging out.” 

Kageyama shrugged, also taking off his mask and placing it down on top of Hinata’s. He felt his skin jump when their fingers’ brushed, causing his frown to twist and his ears to turn pink, but he didn’t think Hinata noticed. He shook it off.

“I mean, we can go out. During the day we’re probably safer, actually,” Kageyama explained, looking out on the dimming lights and sighing. He watched as his words curled into white air clouds from the cold weather, dancing and joining Hinata’s breath in the sky. “An old accomplice of mine was followed, though. The doves recognised him and followed him home.” 

“Ugh, they really have no shame, do they? But hey! At least we have you!” Hinata beamed ‘making something in Kageyama’s heart jump as he was blinded by the smile. “You’re stronger than any officer! Well, except Arima, but he’s a bit preoccupied with the unkillable-owl at the moment.” 

Kageyama found a smile ghosting his lips, wanting to compliment Hinata in return but not sure of whether he should risk his pride for it or not. He turned fully to the right, letting the smile form on his face. It was genuine, with rose ringing his cheeks and feeling a little breathless and hot. 

“Y-you have an incredible jump too. You... you’re more worthy of a high title. Besides, you could stand up to the whole quarter... for... _me_ ,” Kageyama choked out, fists clenching and shoulders tense. He paused, avoiding Hinata’s wide-eyed gaze. “Why... why did you stand up for me then?” 

Hinata’s breath caught in his throat, whipping his head away from Kageyama, forcibly tearing his gaze from those _damn intense eyes_. He gulped audibly, finding that the saliva in his throat had all disappeared, rendering him unable to get a word out. 

“Well... it was a few things,” he finally spoke, barely louder than a whisper. Kageyama waited patiently, not asking him to speak up, not expecting him to engage. Besides, the night was quiet. It wasn’t like they had to be loud. “You’re a strong ghoul. It would be a waste for you to be killed. You might even defeat one of the huge higher ups one day, become someone close to the one-eyed king, perhaps. That’s if he even exists!” 

Hinata laughed awkwardly, scratching his head. Kageyama chuckled, urging him to continue with a slight nod. “And... you’re strong willed. From the moment I met you I thought that your heart was made of ice, but it’s just made of rock.” 

Kageyama scoffed. “Rock? Really dumbass?” 

“Rocks can be warm, too!” Hinata stammered, staring dead at Kageyama. “Like an igneous rock! Something you’d find at a volcano! That kind of rock!” 

Kageyama found his head in his hands, smiling breathlessly. But, Hinata wasn’t finished. “And, the stuff you were saying was a bit disheartening. It sounded like you were being tortured when you were drugged. It’s like you were reliving a bad memory. You said that I’d never know you, that I didn’t understand. I didn’t want... I didn’t want someone who seemed as tortured as you, to endure a death like that,” Hinata mumbled, tone drowning in disconsolate overtones. “Seeing you strapped to a chair, beaten and bloody, I didn’t want to see that. I wanted to... to _help_.” 

“I wanted to protect you, Kageyama.” 

Kageyama looked up, seeing Hinata avoiding his gaze by staring at his swinging legs, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed. It took a lot out of him to admit that, it was obvious. Kageyama, throwing pride to the way-side, shuffled closer to Hinata, so their shoulders were touching.

“Thank you for saying that,” Kageyama said, tone optimistic as he stared off in the distance, the sun beginning to rise over the city. The sky was awash with sunrise’s paint, rendering the two mesmerised by the blends and edges of red and gold. “It’s a pity that we’re the only ones here, to see this.”

Hinata laughed slightly. “What a shame that this was wasted on the likes of us, huh?” He joked, playing into Kageyama’s hands. “Two frustrating and hot-headed vigilante ghouls. Two rivals, even.” 

“You’re such an idiot,” Kageyama laughed sincerely, using the insult in affection. 

Their fingers silently touched off each other as they spoke, the feather light touches all that was needed to be said about the dawn that had risen.


	6. Keep it in your pants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The CCG closes in, and is the Quinx on the squad all the is made out to be?

_“Shimizu-san!”_

_“Kiyoko Shimizu-san, What is your opinion on the recent developments of the—“_

_“A moment of your time, investigator Shimizu—!”_

_“Have the allegations against you been true, Miss—?”_

“No further questions,” the voice said formally, face a blank slate leaving nothing certain. She walked with purpose, strong strides echoing off tiles over the flashes and clicks of cameras and the pestering chatter of the press. She held a bundle of files on top of a binder in one hand and a silver briefcase in the other. She turned a corner, opening a large door and slamming it shut behind her, cutting off the prying reporters.

“Please tell me someone in here has been going their jobs and has _something_ good to say about the Quarter Extermination,” a man at the top of a long table growled, head in his hands and shirt rolled up to his elbows. He was informal-looking, obviously a higher up detective due to the more casual attire. His hair was dyed blonde on the top, the natural hair colour revealing itself around the shaved part of his head. His brows were furrowed, shoulders tense. When he noticed Kiyoko walking in the room, his eyebrows raised and he turned towards her. 

“Terushima-san,” she acknowledged, beginning to hand out the papers to the six others there. They were low ranking officers, fidgety and tense under the eye of their superiors. “I’ve got surveillance footage and DNA samples of the king of the seventh ward. We’ve got a new lead.” 

Terushima clapped his hands together, smiling broadly. “ _Thank you_ , Kiyoko-san! Anything else you find?” 

“We have proof that the S-rated ghouls dubbed ‘Hound’ And ‘Akita’ have connections to the Quarter, that they escaped to there after running from us, and that the King of the Seventh Ward could have connections to the Little Fox who just resurfaced,” Kiyoko continued, moving to sit at an empty seat near the top of the table next to two identical twins, the Miyas. “That’s all I found after I got the warrant.” 

“So what the evidence?” Osamu Miya turned to Kiyoko, as he looked through the paper-clipped report.

“I’m sure it’s just more speculation about the kitsune, Squad Leader-“ a tall boy with wild hair, Kyoutani, objected, being interrupted by Terushima, who held out his hand to tell him to stop. 

“Let her speak, Kyoutani, unless you want to be busted back down to a beat cop with Kindaichi over there,” Terushima smirked, effectively shutting up the man in front of him. “Continue, Kiyoko-san.” 

“Little Fox — or Kitsune — and the King we’re spotted on the dash cam of a parked car on the roof of a building in the tenth ward. We believe this location could be near the headquarters of the quarter, but we can’t get a warrant to search nearby houses without a witness to testify,” Kiyoko said. “It is very obviously them but those left-wing liberals that defend the ghouls may fight to say that we are seeing wrong.” 

“I’m surprised to see her say that, considering she’s a ghoul herself—“ an unplaceable voice muttered, being cut off by Terushima slamming his hand on the table and staring straight at Atsunu Miya. 

“Shut up, Atsumu, or else you can join Kyoutani!” Terushima barked, teeth bared at the young investigator. “I am your squad leader and I’m telling you that even if Kiyoko is a _quinx_ — not a ghoul — she still did a better job than the rest of you at finding evidence to back up a warrant for us. Good work, Kiyoko-san.” 

Kiyoko nodded in acknowledgment, as quiet as always. Silence fell upon the group, Atsumu hiding a smirk with his hand as he avoided eye contact with the squad leader. 

“Since you’re so eager to run your mouth, Miya, put it to use and tell me what you found searching the docks and _make it good_ ,” Terushima smiled sarcastically, before sitting down at the chair at the top of the table. 

Atsumu grinned, opening up his own binder and tossing a sealed plastic bag with a label on it. There were two test tubes in it, the kanji of the names written in pen and smudged slightly. 

“DNA samples found in the south of the ninth ward, in an alley. Ran some tests, and got two matches. They happened to be one of the Horned Owl, who’s identity we are now almost certain of, and the Snowy Owl, who we believe is an associate of his,” Atsumu explained confidently.

Terushima raised an eyebrow, impressed. “Go on.” 

“We now have names for both the horned owl and the snowy owl. It’s Koutarou Bokuto and Keiji Akaashi, respectively,” Atsumu began to flip through his binder. “However, that’s not all we found. The type of DNA we found proves our theory that there’s more than just a partnership in this alliance.” 

Atsumu quickly slipped on a glove he had in his binder, opening the airtight bag and using the small swab to take out the evidence from the test tube. Terushima smirked up at Atsumu. 

“It’s _semen.”_

~

“You watching the news?” Akaashi asked, cheek stuffed with the last bite of what looked to be an intestine. He turned to Bokuto as he took the last, large gulp. The latter just smirked, shaking his head. 

“You never stop eating, do you?” Bokuto chuckled, opening his arm for Akaashi to come over next to him. Wiping his cheek, the black-haired boy slipped in next to Bokuto, bringing his knees up to his chest and leaning on his shoulder. Bokuto squeezed Akaashi’s shoulder slightly, reassuring. 

“ _The CCG has released new information on the ‘Kitsune’ or ‘Little Fox’ case, showing there may be a connection between him and the ‘king of the seventh ward’, the ghoul responsible for mass CCG murder and the hunting of doves. They have been seen together on multiple accounts...”_

“Typical Hinata doesn’t know how to cover his tracks,” Akaashi sighed, shaking his head, before a mugshot of Tsukishima appeared on the screen next to the reporter. He was crying in the picture, holding up a sign that said ‘hound’, his kakugan flared. Akaashi leaned forward in interest, Bokuto shaking his head. 

“ _In other ghoul-related news, the ghoul ‘Hound’ recently escaped arrest from the Terushima squad. The squad leader Yūji Terushima had cornered Hound but he managed to escape. However, DNA samples recovered from the crime scene have given a connection of Hound with past Cochlea prisoner, Kei Tsukishima, who we now believe is involved in the Vigilante organisation ‘The Fifth Quarter’. For this reason, if anyone is to see this man they must not approach him and instead inform the Commission of Counter Ghoul immediately—“_

 _“Fuck!”_ Bokuto shouted, slapping his hand to his forehead, but a trembling hand suddenly shook him, Akaashi jumping to his feet. 

On the screen was dash-cam footage of the both of them, sitting on the hood of a random car from a week ago. 

“What the f-?” Bokuto began.

“Shut up for a second!” Akaashi interrupted, voice cracking in the middle of the sentence.

“ _Nearby the crime scene, DNA samples in the form of semen were found and linked to two ghouls located in the tenth ward, Horned and Snowy Owl,”_ the reporter explained as Akaashi raised his hand to place it over his mouth, shaking his head in denial. “ _The ghouls have been found to be named ‘Koutarou Bokuto And Keiji Akaashi, two ghouls heavily involved in ‘The Fifth Quarter’ and speculated to have tied to Aogiri Tree...”_

“Oh my fucking god...” Bokuto exhaled, eyes pulled wide in disbelief. Akaashi’s head snapped towards him. 

“God you just can’t keep it in your _goddamn pants_ , can you Bokuto?!” Akaashi yelled through sobs, drowning out the television. “Look at this! Look at this _bullshit!_ If you thought they were onto us before, now we’re definitely fucking goners!” 

“Akaashi, no, I _promise_ I can fix this-!” Bokuto pleaded, eyes beginning to water and grabbing Akaashi by the shoulders to still him. The latter just shook out of his grasp, shaking his head and muttering. 

“You don’t _get_ it!” Akaashi screamed, suddenly freezing and pointing a shaky finger at the news reporter on the television, their ID photos from what seemed to be their driver’s licences being placed next to her. Akaashi’s voice turned to a powerful whisper, eyes piercing into Bokuto’s red and tears ones. “ _We’re. Already. Dead._ ” 

“Akaashi, calm down.” 

Akaashi froze, breath caught in his throat as he turned to see none other than Daichi standing there, solemn expression painted on his face. Akaashi doves towards him, pulling him into a squeezing hug, Bokuto joining. 

“Daichi, what the _fuck_?” Bokuto smiled through his tears. “You’ve been MIA for a week!” 

“I was staying at a friends. You guys remember Yui, right? The human? She gave me a bed and stuff, so I’ve been fine,” Daichi chuckled slightly, pulling back from the hug. “At least I know you guys cared. Do you know where Suga is?” 

“He should be... he should be upstairs,” Akaashi sniffed, voice cracking between syllables. Bokuto rubbed his arm in reassurance, and once Daichi was out of sight, the wall broke down. Akaashi collapsed onto Bokuto, messily sobbing and clinging with all his might onto something, _anything_. 

And Bokuto was there to listen to every single breath. 

~

Daichi took a deep breath, fist hovering before Suga’s bedroom door. He could hear faint sniffling from inside, and he screwed his eyes shut when he finally rapped on the wood. 

“Unless it’s Morisuke with more coffee, I’m not interested,” Suga muttered from inside. Daichi shook his head, biting the bullet and opening up the door to his —their— bedroom. Suga was sprawled our on the bed, face down in a pillow, muffling his words. “Juss lea’ ‘t on ‘e ‘able or ‘sum...” 

“Koushi,” came Daichi’s low whisper, and Suga’s head shot up off the pillow. His hand slapped over his mouth, eyes filling with tears. Daichi smiled, “I’m back!” 

Before he could say anything else, Suga tackled him and smashed their lips together, holding his head in his hands as if Daichi was about to float away in him and Suga was the only thing keeping him tethered. After a couple moments of shock and breathlessness, Suga pulled back and strangled him in a hug, sobbing heavily into Daichi’s shoulder. Daichi squeezed hard around Suga’s waist, hugging tightly back. He let his mouth rest on Suga’s shoulder.

“ _I’m so, so sorry, Koushi._ ”

~

“You know what, I bet you that everyone is just sitting on their asses at home at the moment!” Oikawa growled, unleashing another tail of huge kagune and slicing directly through the torsos of two officers approaching him. 

“We need to get out of here, they’re calling for backup!” Iwaizumi shouted, pulling Oikawa back and jumping to the roof of a building. “You’re an idiot, you got that? An _idiot_!” 

“Thanks for the flattery, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa giggled, holding his hand up to his mouth. 

“You’re covered in fucking dove blood, you have no right to say that to me at the moment,” Iwaizumi scowled, wiping blood off his face and flicking it to the ground in distaste. 

“What now?” Oikawa teased as the two jumped into the next alleyway to cut off two more doves, paying no mind to the CCG officers and focused on teasing his Iwa-chan. “Gone vegetarian, have we?” 

Iwaizumi quickly hit one of the officers away into a wall with a force that easily killed him on impact. “ _No_ , just not hungry. I like to keep myself clean too, dumbass.” 

Oikawa knocked the gun-like quinque out of the remaining dove’s hand with easy grace, stabbing him easily through the stomach with one of his Kagune. “As clean as you can get when killing for sport, I suppose.” 

“This isn’t killing for sport. It’s to bring the heat off Bokuto and Akaashi, you know that,” Iwaizumi slapped Oikawa over the head, making the taller laugh loudly. “Since when were you complaining about getting some experience either?” 

“Since the doves out tonight all turned out to be Z-listers, that’s why!” Oikawa whined, doing some arm stretches out of boredom. “I want a challenge! Get me to take out something proper! Like, we should go into the first ward-“ 

“ _No._ ” 

“Jeez, Iwa-chan, didn’t even give me a chance-!” 

“And my answer is still _no_ ” growled Iwaizumi, leaving no room for questions. Oikawa rolled his eyes, feeling the small nick he obtained on his arm heal up. 

“You really are no fun, Iwa-chan...” Oikawa began to complain, words suddenly trailing off as he stared at something behind Iwaizumi. 

“Akira squad, please remain on standby in case things go south,” a low, sultry voice said into a remote. Terushima’s eyes furrowed, expression becoming serious. “Terushima squad, commence Operation King and Knight!” 

Oikawa launches back into the air, his tail kagune propelling him up to the roof top in.a panic. Iwaizumi was close behind, deflecting the sudden blows from the doves and then jumping up after Oikawa. 

“Run, goddamit!” Iwaizumi shouted, as the two began to sprint across the buildings, jumping and making the landings with only seconds to spare as they saw the Terushima squad sprinting below them. “Got any ideas, smartass?!” 

“I do actually, thank you!” Oikawa said in reply. “But you’ve got to trust me! These aren’t your run of the mill doves, so be careful! Just follow my lead!” 

Iwaizumi nodded straight away, placing his life in Oikawa’s hands without hesitation. Oikawa exhaled slowly despite the running, looking out ahead and spotting the bright lights of Shibuya crossing. He counted houses in his head, running patterns and equations and plans through his head in a matter of milliseconds. 

“After the next building, get them!” He said lowly, making Iwaizumi nod briskly and then jump with Oikawa, landing on top of the eight person squad and taking out three in one blow. Oikawa turned to the rest of them, four unyielding tails of Kagune whipping out in threat as he planted heavily.

Iwaizumi sliced through the end of Osamu’s leg, causing a large screech, but was intercepted by his twin. Atsumu stars at the snarling Iwaizumi, spitting at the ghouls feet before going to slash at his kagune. Iwaizumi grinned, cutting the weapon in half and easily slicing through the dove’s torso. Osamu looked on in horror, dropping to his knees and screeching. But, Iwaizumi couldn’t care less, instead running to Oikawa’s side. 

“Why, aren’t you some sort of rabid dog?” Oikawa teased the blonde dove, chopping off Kyoutani’s lower legs in one fluid swipe. “As for the others, you’re a bit more bothersome, so we’ll be off now.” 

“Like hell, you will!” Terushima shouted, kagune clashing with Iwaizumi. The latter felt crushed under the pressure, screaming s he attempted to push back. Oikawa stabbed Terushima through the stomach, turning towards Kiyoko, who had been standing idle. 

“Creepy fuck...” Oikawa growled, watching in disbelief as Kiyoko unleashed red tentacles kagune from her lower back. They paled in comparison to Iwaizumi and Oikawa, but we’re still threatening. “Hell no, you’re one of those Q things. We’re getting out of here. C’mon, Iwa-“ 

“ _No!_ ” Kiyoko screamed, whipping out a kagune and catching Oikawa off guard, catching him in the side and making him yell. Iwaizumi snarled out, charging at Kiyoko with full force and slamming her into the wall, knocking her out. 

“They were weirdly weak...” Oikawa growled, grabbing a handful of flesh from a nearby body and biting into it. 

“Or we were weirdly strong. Now, let’s get out of here,” Iwaizumi said as they both started sprinting towards Shibuya crossroads. Oikawa took off his shirt and discarded his mask, Iwaizumi doing the same without hesitation. As they sprinted, Oikawa stole some shirts from an outdoor stand on a closed corner store, passing one to Iwaizumi as they finally turned the corner, coming back to a walk with fatigue heavy in their bones. 

“You succeeded the challenge,” Iwaizumi panted, attempting to look as normal as possible as they blended in with the thousands of people there. 

“Well, of course I did,” Oikawa sighed, as they both watched the CCG helicopter overhead fly away.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please check out my tumblr is you have any questions and please leave some feedback, as I really appreciate it! Thank you! 
> 
> https://matchiimochii.tumblr.com


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